Elke Heidenreich (née Riegert; born 15 February 1943)[1][2] is a German author, TV presenter, literary critic and journalist.

She was awarded a Goldene Kamera in 1981, and the Bambi in 2003 for her series Lesen!, aimed at making reading of literature more popular.

[1] From 1963 to 1969, she studied German, publication, religion and theatre history at the universities of Munich, Hamburg and Berlin.

With her husband, she wrote the audio play Die Geburtstage der Gaby Hambacher in 1971, and the script for the 1977 film Scrounged Meals [de].

[3] She became known for writing TV shows, often about literature, such as Lesen (Reading), Literaturmagazin (Literary magazine), Durchblick, Kölner Treff (Meeting in Cologne) and live.

[10] When Laufenberg became manager at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, she began a series of opera introductions, entitled Passione, in 2014, presented in dialogue with an expert.

[9] She called opera a "power plant of emotions" (Gefühlskraftwerk),[9] and wrote books on the topic, aiming at a broader interest in its culture.